An 86-year-old West Virginia woman who long dreamed of seeing a Taco Bell open in her hometown recently got to cross the grand opening off her bucket list after wondering whether she would live long enough to see it happen.The ‘Taco Bell Queen’, said she had hoped for years that the town, a suburb of Charleston, would get its own location."I was always wanting a Taco Bell here in this little town of Sissonville," Monk said.
When her son told her the restaurant was finally coming, Monk mentioned she was thrilled. "My son…had been working trying to get one," she said."He [came] to me one day and he said, ‘Mom, I finally got them to come.
They’re coming.They are going to be here for you.’"Pauline Ferrell Monk stands on the side of the road campaigning for her son, Dana Ferrell (R-WV), who ran for the 39th House of Delegates, on Election Day on November 6, 2018 in Sissonville, West Virginia. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)But around the same time, Monk received devastating news.
After coming down with a virus and visiting her doctor, she said medical tests revealed that she had stage 4 cancer.Monk said doctors told her she had a few months to live.104-YEAR-OLD WOMAN CELEBRATES BIRTHDAY BY FULFILLING MOST UNUSUAL WISH"Out of nowhere, we found out that I had stage 4 cancer," she said.As construction continued on the Taco Bell, Monk remarked that she found herself wondering whether she would live to see the restaurant open.
"As I went up and down the road in front of the Taco Bell, they were working, and I’m just trying to guess and figure out, is the Lord going to let me stay here long enough to be able to see that Taco Bell open?" she questioned."They were supposed to be for me, and now I may have to leave this world before I get to see it open."Pauline Monk is pictured in a family photo alongside her three children.
(Courtesy of Autumn Martin)Pauline Monk pictured during the grand opening of Sissonville, West Virginia's Taco Bell. (Courtesy...